Welcome, everyone. This story was inspired by my researching Tang dynasty China and discovering a certain statue carved out of a cliffside. Enjoy and review.
The Unknown Statue
Carved out of a cliffside overlooking a river and a forest was a statue in a sitting position. No one knew who had carved this statue out of the cliffside and no one knew what the figure was, for there was no being like it on all of Third Earth. The statue was old, how old no one could guess, seeming to predate the birth of all native civilizations.
It was here that the ThunderCats had last seen their friend Bengali. He believed that he could the Soul Stone himself, but if he could, was another matter altogether.
Standing on the opposite side of the river, the grey-skinned Evabon Gard stared up at the statue with his axe in his hand. His scarred body warmed by the light of the sun the half-blind Old Savage contemplated what this being could have been. He believed that the being had a connection to all native species of Third Earth, but he could not quite put his finger on wherefore. It had limbs, digits, eyes, ears, but there was nothing about it seemed Evabon, Labinnac, Nomis, Berbil or any other native species.
According to legend there were times when the statue would stand up, but never in his countless twelvemonths of existence had Gard ever seen this happen. For what reason would a statue carved out of a cliffside detach itself? Did stone live? On some occasions it did, but by all accounts, this statue was merely that: a statue.
Whatever it was, this statue, colossal in size, was something that deserved the utmost respect. So, it was that Gard raised his axe in salute.
"Evabon!"
Turning, Gard saw a cat he may have or may have not ever seen before. With his centuries of life, there were some cases where individuals just blended together. No, he had seen this cat before… Grune, the traitorous Thunderan general.
"Grune… What do I owe this pleasure?" asked Gard.
"Have we… met?" inquired Grune, lowering his mace.
"Briefly." Gard answered. "What brings you here?"
"An agenda of my own. That old witch doctor Indra may have plucked me from the Astral Plane, but that does not mean I am fully loyal to him." Grune looked Gard over for a moment before commenting: "You are rather old to be out here all by yourself."
"I have fought more battles than you have lived years." Stated Gard, quite matter of fact in tone. "What do you seek?"
Grune did not answer. Looking to the statue for a moment, he walked past Gard and proceeded to walk along the riverbank, seeking a crossing no doubt. Gard could not help but think that the Sabretooth's presence would complicate matters.